Title: Program Officer
Employer: NIH, Genes, Environment, and Health Branch (NIH-GEH)
Prior Positions: Staff Scientist, NIEHS

Kimberly McAllister, Ph.D., received a B.S. in Honors Biology at the University of Illinois, which provided her with a strong foundation in biology, chemistry, physics, and other sciences that allowed her to enter graduate school with a strong foundation. She received a Ph.D. in Human Genetics at the University of Michigan. Her Ph.D. dissertation involved identifying the first gene known to cause the disease Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. She completed her postdoctoral training and worked for many years as a staff scientist at NIEHS, which is a NIH Institute focused on studying environmental risk factors related to many diseases. Her research focused on the development of BRCA2-deficient mice as a model for breast cancer and Fanconi Anemia.

Dr. McAllister is presently a program administrator at NIEHS, where she manages a portfolio of grants in genetic epidemiology and gene-environment interaction studies; human genetics; statistical and bioinformatics methods; and animal models of human disease. She represents NIEHS on multiple trans-NIH committees relating to genetics and is currently involved in a large trans-NIH effort focused on gene and environment interaction studies in African countries.

Kimberly would be a great person to talk to about careers in the government, graduate school in the sciences, environmental science, or human genetics. Contact Christina Swanson at alumnimentor@sib.illinois.edu if you would like to connect with Kim.